The Industrial Designers Society of America awarded its 2001 Silver Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) to a Boulder, Colo., company responsible for the design of Waterpick Technologies' Waterpik Flosser.
Volan Design recieved the award in competition with other products in the category of medical and scientific products, both home-care and self-care.
"Volan Design helped Waterpik's team design a product with widespread appeal," said Tara Balin, product manager with Waterpik Technologies. "The attention to design and utility resulted in demand exceeding our original forecast estimate by over 300 percent, and that demand continues to grow at a dramatic pace. We couldn't be more pleased with the product's reception to date."
Volan and Waterpik desired a device that encouraged the oral health care habit of flossing teeth. The IDEA award acknowledges the joint effort to "solve this problem (of not flossing) with an apparatus that incorporates a simple design, that is affordable and easy to use," according to a statement released about the award.
The two companies desired to accomplish three design goals:
1.) The device had to be just as effective and easier to use than conventional floss. The final design included low-handle vibration and replaceable tips.
2.) The device had to incoporated a modular design that easily enabled custom product configuartions and product line extensions.
3.) The device had to operate in a simple and intuitive manner for a wide range of users. The design included an unique tip, a single control button, multiple color-coded heads, a tactile grip surface, and a light weight.
The statement also quoted a Boulder dentist, Dr. Kenneth Mickens, about his evaluation of the Waterpik Flosser.
"The Waterpik Flosser is an excellent and effective addition to daily oral hygiene. Regular flossing is critical to dental health, and this makes flossing so easy and comfortable that people are more likely to do it every day. Plus, the Flosser is a big help to those who don't have the dexterity for manual flossing."
